ICS - the dust system

I've lost count of the number of times I've been asked if the Integrated Cleaning System of Canon cameras works or not. The reality is, in our experience, yes it does. But we're just a few people. The wider world is a big place and while most people we talk to are happy with it, we want to know what you think. Do the shaking filters in front of the sensor really help to keep dust away? Is the extra space between the filters and the sensor effective in making what dust is there less obtrusive? How often do you do a manual clean? Have you use the Dust Delete Data function? If so, how did you find it? Has it reduced the frequency with which you have to manually clean the sensor? And for those Nikon users that have defected from Canon (yes, I know there are some of you reading this!) do you miss the cleaning system? Is it one of those things you now need to spend time on again? 

Yes, questions! And yes, we want answers! 

And now for a tip - The shaking filters works by dislodging dust from filters which then drops onto sticky tape below. Think about it like industrial double-sided tape. If you want to maximise the chance of the dust hitting that tape and staying there, you need to make sure gravity is on your side. So, when it comes time to do the automatic sensor cleaning (in other words any time you turn the camera on or off) make sure you try and keep the camera pointing forwards - i.e. with the lens pointing away from you. That way the dust will fall onto the tape. 

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Nano technology

Want even higher quality image files? Researchers led by a team at the University of Glasgow have been given a grant worth nearly half a million pounds to work on 'surface plasmon resonance'. Yep, you read that right.
Essentially they want to work at the particulate level of metals to try and make better use of the electron properties within the metals. By doing this, they hope to make the CMOS sensors more sensitive to light and colour and hence produce higher quality images.

Their research project is due to run until 2012, so I wouldn't hold your breath if you expect to see it in Canon's next dSLR!

More info on the story over on the BBC site.....

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DXO Mark

Anyone seen the new DXO Mark sensor ranking tool? The one that 'measures' the sensor quality before any in camera processing is applied?

Am I the only one to find this a COMPLETE waste of time? What use is the RAW camera sensor data to anyone? Will it affect your buying decision? If it will, you need to stop and think first. While it's nice to know how good the sensor is according to a third party, what can you do with the information? Nothing. Nothing at all. Why? 'Coz the in-camera processing is incredibly important!

If you had the best sensor in the world, poor in-camera processing will ruin the images. Sure having a good sensor helps, but it's the combination of sensor and processor that makes the image. Looking at either of them in isolation is just a waste of time.

No, I'm not going to get on my soap box about the relative merits of the EXPEED vs DIGIC processor. Suffice to say, comparing sensors is interesting but not the whole story. Try looking at the whole picture.

Go on, comment with the words "disgruntled Canon fanboy"! I dare you :-)

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